Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was one hell of a striking horror story.

Not because it was overly horrific and the scary bits were positively mild compared to ... almost ANY horror novel out there, but because it was SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN.

Yes. It's a ghost story, but the realization that it WAS a ghost didn't show up till nearly the end. The rest is all details, details, details. That pretty much sums up any great ghost story, of course, but I have to say that Elizabeth Hand NAILED IT.

Plus, I happen to be a huge fan of stories about musicians, and in this case, it's all about singer-songwriter avant-garde 70's folks trying to make a mark by setting up camp in an old unused mansion. Old story, sure, but I was rocking along with all these creative juices flying and enjoying the house and freaking out about the damn birds.

No one was afraid. Just creeped out sometimes. And that made all the difference. I just wanted to learn more about these guys and listen to the actual album. Becoming a cult classic and all is just plain fascinating, and I was on the ground floor to hear the inside scoop.

And the main singer/songwriter's strange disappearance? LEGENDARY. :)

I totally recommend this for music fans and fans of VERY well-constructed ghost stories. :)

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